Millions of people make daily use of portable computing and communication devices, many of which can accurately be characterized as wireless-communication devices (WCDs) in that they are equipped, programmed, and configured such that they are able to engage in wireless communication with one or more other devices, directly and/or via one or more radio access networks (RANs). These WCDs typically engage in these communications according to one or more protocols such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and/or the like.
In order to facilitate these communications, a given RAN typically includes one or more entities often known by terms such as base station, eNodeB, wireless access point, and the like. As is known in the art, these entities are in turn connected to one or more core-network entities, which themselves are connected to one or more transport and/or signaling networks such as the Internet, the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and the like.
Moreover, another burgeoning area of technology is that of wearable computing and communication devices (also known by terms such as wearable computers, wearables, and the like), some examples of which take forms that are similar to eyeglasses, wristwatches, wristbands, and the like. Various different wearables are worn for a variety of different reasons, some examples of which are increased and/or more convenient functionality (e.g., hands-free capturing of pictures and video), monitoring health, improving fitness, and the like. Consistent with such uses, many wearables are equipped with one or more sensors that are configured to carry out functions such as monitoring heart rate (i.e., pulse), monitoring blood pressure, monitoring body temperature, gaze tracking, and the like.
Many wearables are capable of engaging in one or more forms of short-range and/or long-range wireless communication, and thus it can accurately be said that some wearables are or include WCDs. For example, many wearables engage in short-range wireless communications with what may fairly be described as a user's primary WCD (e.g., smartphone, tablet, or the like) according to near-field communication (NFC) protocols such as Bluetooth® and the like. As another example, many wearables engage in relatively more long-range wireless communication with one or more cellular networks (i.e., wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) according to protocols such as LTE, GSM, and the like. Moreover, some wearable computers are equipped, programmed, and configured to be able to engage in both short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication. And many WCDs, be they wearables or not, are equipped to communicate with one or more peripheral wearable devices that may have one or more sensors such as those described. At times, terms such as Body Area Networks (BANs) are used to describe groups of communicatively connected devices located on or about (e.g., on the clothing of) particular users.
Another up-and-coming area of technology is often referred to as “affective technology,” which is designed to infer one or more emotions (i.e., emotional states, moods, and/or the like) of its user and/or one or more other people. In some instances, affective-technology devices make such inferences based at least in part on one or more physiological parameters such as heart rate, pupil dilation, and the like (i.e., biometric data). In some examples, affective-technology devices compare absolute values of such parameters with thresholds. In some examples, these devices compare changes (i.e., deltas) in the values—perhaps over a limited period of time (i.e., sufficiently sudden changes)—of such parameters with thresholds. In some instances, affective-technology devices infer one or more emotions of one or more people at least in part by detecting one or more facial expressions. And certainly other approaches are used as well.